PORTLAND, Maine – Portland Hearts of Pine (5-4-9) fell behind early against fellow USL League One expansion side Westchester SC (3-10-7) on Sunday night, but rallied to claim a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Stadium at Memorial Field behind goals from Titus Washington, Ollie Wright, and Nathan Messer.
Walter Varela added a pair of assists for the visitors, and the win moved Portland level on points with Union Omaha and Greenville Triumph SC for the eighth and final playoff spot, with 12 matches remaining in the regular season.
Portland almost scored first when, in the 11th minute, Washington held the ball up then fed Varela wide on the right. Varela drove a low cross into the penalty area into the path of Wright, but Wright’s equally powerful shot was just wide of its target.
It was the home side who drew first blood when, in the 16th minute, Erwin Mackic beat Hunter Morse from close range with a well-placed one-time shot. Left back Josh Drack brought the ball upfield then cut inside, drawing Portland right back Colby Quiñones in with him. Drack fed Noah Powder in the resulting space out wide and the Trinidad and Tobago international sent a low cross into the Hearts penalty area, which Mackic turned home at the near post.
In the 25th minute Westchester was presented with a golden opportunity to go two goals up when JC Obregón, the league’s leading goalscorer, took aim from inside the six-yard-box. Obregón’s attempt was no good, however, as Hunter Morse made a reflex save to deny him.
A two-goal lead would’ve been worth its weight in gold against a Hearts side that came into the match with 18 goals in 17 outings.
Instead, the save turned out to be the spark that ignited Portland’s offense.
After making the save Morse fed the ball to Séga Coulibaly, who then sent it deep downfield to Varela. Varela split the Westchester defense with a through ball that brought center back Juan Sebastian Palma to the ground and saw Washington on goal, and the rookie striker calmly slotted home to tie the match at a goal apiece.
Ten minutes later Hearts took the lead, with Varela playing provider yet again. The Cape Verde native found Wright running in behind the Westchester backline from the left wing; Wright cut inside, beating Stephen Payne, then fired home to put Hearts in front 2-1.
In the 43rd minute Hearts added a third, as Wright fed a hard charging Messer at the edge of the penalty area and the English left back hammered the ball past Andrew Hammersley and inside the far post to give Portland a 3-1 lead.
That margin lasted all of 60 seconds though, as Prince Saydee took aim from distance on the stroke of halftime and rocketed a long-range shot into the top right corner of the Portland goal.
Three minutes into first half stoppage time Varela tried his own luck from long range, but his attempt hit the post and rebounded into safety, and the teams headed to the locker room with Hearts narrowly in front, 3-2.
The pulsating first 45 minutes saw the two sides combine for 20 shots, with Morse making four saves to deny Westchester a number of quality chances. The end-to-end action also saw just two yellow cards issued, as Drack and Mikey Lopez were the only players to see their names jotted down in referee Ryan Farrell’s notebook.
Unfortunately for Drack, though, that would not be the final time he crossed paths with Farrell.
In the 73rd minute, Sean Vinberg stole the ball from Drack and turned upfield, only to have the Westchester defender lunge at him from behind in frustration. That moment of ill discipline by Drack resulted in his second yellow of the evening, and saw him head back to the locker room for an early shower.
After just two cards were issued in the first 45 minutes, Farrell flashed 10 in the second half, including Drack’s red. While Portland was unable to capitalize on having a one-man advantage for the final 17 minutes of the match, they held resolute on defense and restricted Westchester to just a pair of stoppage time attempts, both of which went wide.
NEXT UP: Portland Hearts of Pine return home to Fitzpatrick Stadium next weekend, taking on Charlotte Independence on Saturday, August 30, at 5:00 p.m. Charlotte, who sit fifth overall in the standings, are led by Christian Chaney, who sits third in the USL League One Golden Boot standings with nine goals; and Matt Levy, who leads the league in saves with 56.
GOALS
POR – Titus Washington 26’ (Walter Varela), Ollie Wright 36’ (Walter Varela), Nathan Messer 43’ (Wright)
WES – Erwin Mackic 16’ (Noah Powder), Prince Saydee 45’ (Joel Johnson)
DISCIPLINE
YC – Josh Drack (WES 1’), Mikey Lopez (POR 13’), Stephen Payne (WES 54’), Noah Powder (WES 56’), Masashi Wada (POR 63’), Juan Sebastian Palma (WES 65’), Drack (WES 73’), Nathan Messer (POR 75’), Vinberg (POR 78’), Daniel=l Bouman (WES 83’), Hunter Morse (POR 90’+6)
RC – Drack (WES 73’)
LINEUPS
PORTLAND – Hunter Morse, Nathan Messer, Séga Coulibaly, Kemali Green, Colby Quiñones (Sean Vinberg 70’), Patrick Langlois (Michel Poon-Angeron 46’), Mikey Lopez ©, Masashi Wada, Ollie Wright, Titus Washington (Natty James 86’), Walter Varela (Jay Tee Kamara 70’)
Unused substitutes – Kash Oladapo, Evan Southern, Mickey Reilly
WESTCHESTER – Andrew Hammersley, Joel Johnson (Daniel Bouman 82’), Juan Sebastian Palma ©, Rashid Tetteh (Bobby Pierre 85’), Josh Drack, Stephen Payne (Samory Powder 83’), Erwin Mackic (Jonathan Bolanos 77’), Prince Saydee, Dean Guezen, Noah Powder, JC Obregón
Unused substitutes – Dane Jacomen, Sam Greenberg, Braeden Backus, Bryan Vasquez, Andrew Jean-Baptiste